The Ecology

Reports and articles from scientists on the high biodiversity of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve

CARP in Support of Owls Head Provincial Park

CARP NS (formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons) sent this letter to Minister Rankin on February 24, 2020.

On behalf of CARP NS (formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons), we want you to know of our concern for the proposed development of Owl’s Head Park Reserve. We believe the proposed development is not in the best interests of the people of Nova Scotia.

A recent national survey of seniors by CARP showed that the top three concerns for seniors are:

  1. Financial Security
  2. Our Environment
  3. Health Security
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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter from Dr. Karen Beazley

Dr. Karen Beazley
Dalhousie Institute for Resource and Environmental Studies

Honourable Stephen McNeil, Premier,

Please do not sell public land. NS has very little public land. It should not be sold to or for private interests. The Nova Scotia Nature Trust and the Nature Conservancy of Canada are working hard to purchase and secure ecologically significant lands in NS, with substantial (several millions of dollars of) funding being provided by both private and public individuals and organizations in support of their efforts. They are focusing on connected ecological systems along the eastern shore and elsewhere to complement Provincial conservation efforts. There is strong public support of their efforts, providing solid evidence of public economic and ethical valuation of public and private land conservation in NS.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Principles of the Coastal Protection Act

Bill No. 106 (as passed).

Excerpt:

This Act is based on the following principles:

(a) portions of the Province’s coast are dynamic and naturally migrate landward and seaward as a result of the interaction of natural forces such as tides, winds, currents and wave action with varying geological conditions;

(b) preservation of the dynamic nature of the coast is important in order to protect and allow for the natural adaptation of coastal ecosystems that provide fish, wildlife and plant habitat and perform important ecological functions that Nova Scotians value; (more…)

By Lindsay Lee, ago

Seagrass beds off our coast could be some of the world’s heaviest and oldest organisms

CBC Radio
Mainstreet Nova Scotia
February 12, 2020

Not only seagrasses the only type of plants that flower underwater, but they could be the oldest known organisms on our planet. “The value generated by seagrass is among the highest of any habitat in the world,” explains Worm. The ecosystem services provided by seagrass meadows (such as nursery habitat, spawning habitat, and carbon sequestration) are so valuable that they are valued “in excess of $20,000 per hectare, per year.”

In terms of Owls Head Park Reserve, Worm says”[w]hen we think about doing something to that protected land it’s not just about the land, it’s also very strongly connected to the underwater habitat nearby” which could be “very harmful for the seagrass that lives there.”

Listen Now

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Back Road Bog

Protecting Canada’s Carbon Sinks

A short but beautiful video and article from WWF-Canada explains the value of carbon sinks, and protecting sites like Owls Head, Nova Scotia.

World Wildlife Federation – Canada

Visit Page

In the face of widespread wildlife loss and climate change, WWF-Canada’s new nation-wide assessment maps gaps in essential wildlife habitat protection and opportunities to protect areas that benefit biodiversity while slowing climate change.

A national habitat crisis

Just as we need housing, wildlife need somewhere to live. Half of Canada’s monitored species are in decline, by a staggering 83 per cent, and even wildlife protected under Canada’s Species at Risk Act are failing to recover. Wildlife simply can’t survive with increasingly degraded or destroyed habitats. They need to find food, mate, migrate and raise their young. Climate change only makes matters worse.

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By Save Owls Head, ago